Today started out with high drama.

I was cleaning offices in Naples, leaving the first one and driving to the second. I was exploring some quiet back streets, trying to find a shorter way to get from Point A to Point B. At one point, I was driving very slow - about 10 miles per hour - because I was "feeling my way" through the back streets.

Suddenly, from the sidewalk on my right, a bird walked out in front of my car, with three babies beside her. I gasped and jerked the wheel hard to the left to miss her, but my wheel caught her. I heard a soft thud.

Horrified, I pulled to a stop and looked in the rear view mirror. The bird was down, thrashing on the pavement, flapping her wings. The three babies were running around her. There were no houses on the street, and no other cars. I shifted into park and started to sob. Couldn't stop crying. I got an instant, throbbing headache and felt nauseous.

Shaking, I grabbed my cell phone and dialed 411, asked for the Collier County Humane Society and talked to the receptionist. She said they didn't take wildlife, but she would call the Naples Conservancy and they would send someone. I explained where the birds were and said goodbye.

A couple minutes later, I realized that the directions I had given her were wrong. I had obviously been slightly lost! I called back and a different person answered. She didn't know who had taken my previous call, so she gave me the phone number for the Conservancy. I called that number and got no answer.

Feeling helpless, I started to pray to God, asking Him to take care of those little babies. I continued on my way to the next job. When I was almost there, driving south on Goodlette Frank Road, I saw a sign that said "Naples Conservancy, next left."

Yay!!!

I pulled into the Conservancy grounds and drove around for a few minutes until I saw a sign that said "Injured Wildlife" with an arrow pointing down a dirt path. I drove down there and found a building. I rang the bell at the door and a girl leaned over a balcony and talked to me. When I started to explain, she said "Oh, I know about you. My supervisor is on the phone right now with the Humane Society. Just a minute."

The supervisor came to the door and let me in. She explained that there was nobody available at the Conservancy to rescue the babies, but she was trying to get in touch with a volunteer to go over and capture them. She said that they could easily get run over by another car, and their best hope was if she would give me some equipment and send me over to try and net them.

She told me that if I saw another adult bird with the babies, that would be another parent who would take care of them, and in that case, I should not capture them.

I was still crying, and of course, was willing to do just about anything to help the birds. So, I loaded the net and crate into my car and drove back to the street where I had hit the bird.

She was still where I had left her, but she was standing up. The babies were out of sight. I stopped the car, put on my four-way flashers, and got the crate and net out of the back seat. I figured I would net her and bring her back to the Conservancy, and maybe they could check her over.

She just watched me. When I approached her, she started walking away from me, fast enough that she beat me to the sea grape hedge beside the street, and while I was trying to maneouver my net into the hedge, she disappeared. I walked up and down, but never saw her again.

Sooooo .... I put the net and crate back into the car, climbed back in, turned off my flashers and started to drive away. About a dozen feet down the street, on the other side, I spied the three babies with another adult bird, and I felt wonderfully relieved.

I took the equipment back to the Conservancy and gave them my report. We all agreed that we hoped the poor bird didn't have serious internal injuries.

End of story. Babies are fine, I don't know about the mother, and I have felt ill all day. That was 'WAY too much emotion for me! I don't feel guilty, because it wasn't my fault. There was nothing I could have done differently, or better, than I did.

I was surprised at my strong reaction. I thought to myself "it's only a BIRD!!!" but that didn't help at all. Birds have feelings, too! I felt so bad for those little birdies, rushing to their mother's side, and for her, injured and unable to help herself. I am heartsick over it.

I learned a lot about the Conservancy today, and that was very interesting. They are open every day - every single day of the year - from 7:30 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. - to care for their rescued animals and to be available to help injured wildlife that is brought in to them. Some animals are rehabilitated and released again, while others need to stay there permanently. It's a wonderful organization.